


Human

by sigmatimelord



Category: From Beyond (1986)
Genre: Body Horror, Crawford doesn't deserve all the things that happened to him, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 19:20:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20729426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sigmatimelord/pseuds/sigmatimelord
Summary: Crawford is human. He has to be. And he is going to go home.





	Human

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by https://archiveofourown.org/works/16861594 but I wanted a bit more body horror.

There was a lot Crawford could do with complete control over his body. Not that he really wanted such a thing but here he was. It was all he could do to try to keep the same form and not form extra limbs to help build his projects faster or a pair of extra eyes to watch out for any larger creatures than him that might appear. His humanity was precious and so so easy to lose. He didn't want to become like Praetorius.

The next component slid into the formed slot, and he smiled a bit too wide than he remembered that he was supposed to. He really wasn't a doctor of medicine. His anatomy class was awhile ago and the details blurred so easily. How many teeth was he supposed to have again? Thirty eight? Forty two? More? Less?

He decided that it'd be easier if he stuck with the basic form and worry when he got back to his home dimension. Two hands, five fingers, two arms, two legs, one head, one Crawford Tillinghast face. It was strange finding components in this dimension. There wasn't the normal materials. He had to scavenge elements and minerals, form the components he'd memorized from himself. If he hadn't the control over his form, he would've been fucked. Teeth like screws and tendrils of flesh with copper cores for wires. He still had the taste of the eels in his mouth from gathering materials.

The organic resonator was taking shape and it was a grotesque column of flesh and bone and organic metal. He wished he at least had a text book to look through on organic chemistry. This was not his chosen field of study. He formed claws to twist another stubborn piece into place before swiping at a not a jellyfish that came to take a bite. It too, went into the machine as materials. He hoped the atmospheric density wouldn't interfere with the frequency. It would break him more than realizing what he had become.

The barrier was thin. Oh so thin. But oh so hard to cross. But he had done it. He had seen other creatures (ones that his human mind quivered to even think about) do it normally in the Beyond, but to presumably even another dimension. It was possible. He had seen it.

He took a break, and toyed with trying to recreate his favorite sweater. Wasn't wool just a type of hair and hair was something he often forced himself to create to keep some ties to humanity. It was easier to create a facsimile of leather. It made him feel better to be clothed. To use tools. To act human when he was so very not. But he was going to go home. He had to. The price of failure was not an option.


End file.
